analysis of error writing english letters of 2nd year english faculty students at ufls danang university

Taking into account the foregoing points, it isimportant to understand learners'''' problems in writing skills in order to improve thequality of writing a second or foreign language Hammad,

ĐẠI HỌC ĐÀ NẴNG

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

MÔN HỌC: NGHIÊN CỨU KHOA HỌC GIÁO VIÊN: NGUYỄN KHOA DIỆU HẠNH

ASSIGNMENT 2

TOPIC:

“Analysis of Error Writing English Letters of 2nd year English

Faculty students at UFLs, Danang University”

Nhóm :1 Đỗ Phương Thảo 20CNA052 Nguyễn Nhật Vy 20CNA093 Nguyễn Thị Khánh Huyền 20CNA094 Hoàng Thị Nhân Văn 20CNA125 Phan Thị Huyền Trang 20CNA12

1 INTRODUCTION

English is one of the very important languages and it is used a lot in thecountry as well as in the world English is widely used in many fields anddisciplines such as politics, science, art, tourism and economics It is considered asthe language of knowledge and communication in all branches of life by as mostresearchers are rooted in literary and medical science written and instrumental inEnglish For most people, it becomes a license to a better lifestyle, bettercommunication with others, and a tool for achieving better engagement Therefore,teaching and learning English skills has become an important requirement for thecomprehensive and comprehensive development of education (Chang, 2006;Nayyar, 2008) To understand what happens in the world, one should learn theEnglish language (Zawahreh, 2012) Brown (2000) states that language consists offour key skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking Learners should beexposed to all the skills mentioned for successful English fluency (Brown, 2000).Among the four basic language skills, writing is considered to be the thinking toolfor language development language, creativity and openness to learning in alldisciplines (Bjork & Raisanen, 1997) Writing in English is an important scene thathelps you to think better (French & Rhoder, 1992) At the same time, writing inEnglish is a way for teachers to develop and promote students' creativity becausewriting is an activity that requires mental effort to think of sentences and put themtogether according to their needs meaningful and communicative ways (Al-Haq &Al-Sobh, 2010; Bello, 1997; Lin & Warden 1998; Majid, Tan, & Soh, 2003)

In writing, learners create sentences in a particular order and connect themin ways However, learners face a lot of difficulties when trying to form sentencesor write English paragraphs Therefore, text production is one of the most difficulttasks for many second-year students in the university of foreign languages Inaddition, mastering the skill of writing is a complex process as it involves anumbers and transitions between the writer's ideas and the written text (Harris &Cunningham, 1994) Murcia and Olshtain (2000) argue that writing skills requirehigh levels of language control, problem-solving forms, idea generation, planning,goal setting, monitoring and evaluate what has been produced Therefore, the skillof writing letters is still considered a difficult task for most first and foreignlanguage learners (Ingels, 2006) Taking into account the foregoing points, it isimportant to understand learners' problems in writing skills in order to improve thequality of writing a second or foreign language (Hammad, 2012)

To better understand learners' problems with sentence composition, Error Analysis(EA) has become a preferred second or foreign language analysis tool Erroranalysis is one of the best language research tools to focus on learners' errors Erroranalysis tools compare the errors made by learners in the target language and in thetarget language itself (Zawahreh, 2012)

This study aimed to determine the types of letter-writing errors that universitystudents of foreign languages make and the frequency with which they arecommitted By achieving the purposes of this study, we will find and analyze those

errors to identify their students' letter writing errors and try to correct these errorsby applying learning strategies suitable.

2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY2.1 Aim : This study aim is investigate the languages errors in writing English

letter experienced by 2nd English faculty student at UFLS and improve learners ofEnglish practical knowledge to improve the written of English letter

2.2 Objectives : To achieve the aim of this study, the objectives will be as follow:

 Examine common mistakes when writing letters in English by 2nd year UFLS students

 To investigate the main factor that influences the students in writing English letters

 To give ways to correct mistakes in letter writing

2.3 Research question :

 What mistakes do students make when writing letters? What are the main factors that influence students to write letters in English? How can students correct mistakes when writing letters?

3 A BRIEF REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE

Error Analysis (EA) is one of the most influential theories of second language acquisition which replaced the Contrastive Analysis (CA) theory, whose major concern was “the comparison of two or more languages or subsystems of languages in order to determine both the differences and similarities between them” (Fisiak, 1981) in 1970 CA regarded the influence of mother tongue on all the levels language; phonological, morphological, lexical and syntactic, in second language acquisition Due to the weaknesses of CA in its pedagogical

implications, EA emerged as a more effective tool for in the study of second language acquisition According to James, EA is “the study of linguistic ignorance, the investigation of what people do not know and how they attempt to cope with their ignorance” (James, 2001)

Definition

After the thorough review of the past literature, it is obvious that there were several attempts to define 'writing' Byrne (1996) defines writing as encoding of a certain message or idea through writing it in a shape of a sequence of sentences put together in a systematic way The way of ordering the written sentences shouldinclude some conscious mental effort such as making notes, drafting, and revising (Byrne, 1996) Furthermore, White and Arndt (1991) define 'writing' as "a form ofproblem-solving which involves such process as generating ideas, discovering a voice with which to write, planning, goal setting, monitoring and evaluating what

is going to be written, and searching with language with which to express exact meanings" (p.3) In light of the aforementioned definitions, the current study defines writing as a mental process which includes generating ideas, writing these ideas in ordered sentences, and revising these ideas for evaluation purpose Good writing must include a sufficient knowledge of grammatical rules, lexical items, and logical connections.

Error analysis

Error analysis may be a reasonably approach to research the speaking orwriting performance of learners in several environments and has received plentyof interest within the field of second language acquisition

Several previous studies have provided different definitions for 'erroranalysis' Crystal (1999, p.108) defines EA in teaching and learning as 'the studyof unacceptable forms' received by someone learning a language, especially aremote language" Furthermore, James (2001, P.62), points out that EA refers to"study of language ignorance, a investigation of what people do not know and theway they struggle to correct ignorance "their understanding" Another definitionof Error Analysis (EA) given by Crystal (1999) is that the study of language bylanguage learners in forms apart from those of the target language

According to Corder (1974 cited in Mungungu, 2010), Error Analysis (EA)has two goals One is target theory regarding what and the way learners learn alanguage the other may be a practitioner fascinated by the way to help learnerslearn a language using the knowledge they have already got Corder (1974 citedin Mungungu, 2010), asserts that Error Analysis (EA) is beneficial He alsoproposed a five-stage process: Defect Analysis (EA) consisting of defectaggregation, defect identification, defect description, fault interpretation anddefect evaluation (Corder, 1974 cited in Wu & Garza, 2014)

In a nutshell, Error Analysis (EA) is that the study of language patterns that deviate from the standard of the target language that occur during learners' learning Error analysis helps to reveal the precise categories and sources of errors that may be caused and spend less time correcting errors made by learners

Benefits of error analysis

Error analysis is very important for all aspects of the educational process (Kwok, 1998) Corder (1974) affirms the importance of identifying errors made by second or foreign language learners He asserts that Error Research is an element of the method of investigating learning It gives us an image of a learner's language development and may give us instructions about the training process (Corder, 1974, p.125) Corrective exercises can be designed and focused more on trouble spots, he added it's the learner who decides what the input is Teachers may present a type of language, but this is often not necessarily input, but simply what'savailable for learning (Corder, 1974, p.125) Error analysis isn't only useful to

students, teachers, and curriculum designers, but it also benefits researchers by showing them the strategies learners use to find out the target language additionally, error analysis identifies the categories of errors that learners make andattributes to the explanations for creating them (Nation and Newton, 2001) To conclude, error analysis helps linguists facilitate second or foreign language learners through teacher training and assists them in identifying and categorizing learners' writing errors, also as helping they apply appropriate strategies (Kwok, 1998).

Study of Kanyakorn Sermsook , Jiraporn Liamnimitr & Rattaneekorn Pochakorn (2017) aimed at analyzing errors committed by Thai EFL students when they produced pieces of writing in English, and to seek for the sources that lead to the errors The findings showed that the students made different types of errors due to four sources: interlingual interference, intralingual inference, limited knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary, and their carelessness

Watcharapunyawong and Usaha (2013) studied errors caused by the interference ofthe first language Zheng and Park (2013) mentioned that the negative transfer of the subjects’ first language was the major source of the errors In a similar study ofLiu (2013), it was found that the participants who were Chinese learners made the

errors when they wrote English sentences She pointed out that the sources were carelessness and negative influence of the subjects’ mother tongue.

The above studies provide the basic errors of students when writing English and point out the source of those errors, however the above studies are studies of foreign students and it is possible that it will This is not quite true for Vietnamese students, especially students in Da Nang, so this study will study the most commonmistakes in English writing letter by sophomore students of the English departmentof the Da Nang University of foreign languages

4 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND4.1 Definition of writing letter :

Letter writing is the exchange of written or printed messages

4.2 Form of letter

Formal letter: A formal letter is defined as a letter written for a professionalsetting that follows certain guidelines and formats It usually adheres toconventional standards and utilizes a ceremonious choice of language that isappropriate for official correspondence A formal letter can be used in variousscenarios that require communication with professional contacts or authorities Forexample, you can write formal letters in your workplace, such as to your boss orpeople in HR, perhaps for topics like sick leaves or resignation letters

Informal letter : An informal letter is the type of letter you would write tosomeone you know, for example a friend or family member They're written in astyle that is more friendly and familiar in comparison to a formal letter whichfollows strict rules about layout and style

4.3 Classification of ErrorError about tense:

Each tense in English has its own structure and usage However, due to lack of knowledge, students often make grammatically incorrect sentences

Vocabulary error:

The English vocabulary is extremely vast To learn, understand the meaning of words and applications is quite difficult Many Vietnamese people have the habit of using synonyms when writing However, this makes it easy for readers to misunderstand or even misunderstand what the writer wants to convey

 Error using words with similar meanings: In English, there are many

pairs of words; groups of words with similar meanings They are used interchangeably to avoid repeating errors in a sentence However, when using it, the user needs to determine whether it is suitable for the context of the paragraph, of the sentence

 Using the wrong word in a sentence: In the sentence structure, each type

of word has a definite position Therefore, when determining what type of word to use; You need to know the position to choose the right word type Using the wrong word type is the most common mistake in English writing exercises; so you need to pay special attention

 Misuse of words: There are many words in English that have the same

"similar" spelling; If you don't memorize it well, you will easily use the wrong word in the writing process This causes confusion and even errors in expressing ideas and sentences

Grammatical error in the sentence:

Failure to correctly memorize the grammatical structure will make it easyfor you to create grammatically incorrect sentences in the process of practicing English writing Not using the correct grammatical structure will make it difficultto express ideas

Error in expressing ideas in a sentence:

To express the whole idea in a sentence; paragraph; The essay requires you to have enough vocabulary and master the grammatical structure With expressing ideas in sentences, learners often make the following mistakes:

 Error in expressing ideas that are not suitable for the topic: Usually,

when practicing writing English by topic, learners often make this mistake The reason is because learners have limited vocabulary; do not understand the exact meaning of the word Another reason for this error is because learners translate word by word on support tools; then put them together

 Error repeating too many words in a short paragraph: This is also a

common mistake made by students, especially when practicing writing English for primary school students Repeating too many words in a sentence or in a short piece of text will make the reader feel uncomfortable

 Error of using too many simple sentences in written text: Using too

many simple sentences can prevent you from expressing enough ideas, which in turn may prevent the reader from fully understanding the writer's point The questions in our questionnaire are all related to the purpose of this study, which is to find mistakes in student letter writing and to suggest ways to correct them

5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY5.1 Research design

The study has used both quantitative and qualitative methods because weuse questionnaires and tests including 2 topics of formal and informal letterwriting From the observation process we will draw conclusions

5.4 Procedures

Initially, our group made a survey about errors in student letter writing and 2letter writing topics, then distributed to 50 students to respond Then ask the teacher to grade the letters from those 50 students to see if there are any mistakes

5.5 Reliability and validity5.5.1 Reliability

 My group created a survey questionnaire about the problem of letter writing in students and gave it to 4 classmates to do first, then we recorded the survey to see if there were any problems that needed to be fixed Which questions need to be more specific, is the questionnaire reasonable or not, and finally a complete questionnaire will be completed Give 50 friends a sample letter (formal and informal)

 2 letter writing tests we took in the FCE syllabus. We asked the teacher to mark 2 English tests for 50 students

5.5.2 Validity

The questions in our questionnaire are all related to the purpose of this study, which is to find mistakes in student letter writing and to suggest ways to correct them

5.6 Instruments to collect data

Provide a questionnaire consisting of 10 questions in different formats and two letters topics (1 formal letter and 1 informal letter)

REFERENCES

Al - Khasawneh, F., M S (2010) Writing for academic purposes: Problems

faced by Arab postgraduate students of the College of Business, UUM ESP World,

2(28), 1-23 Retrieved from: http://www.esp-world.info/articles_28/writing.pdf.

Byrne, D (1996) Teaching writing skills UK: Longman Group.Crystal, D (1999) The penguin dictionary of language London: Penguin.Corder, S P (1974) Error Analysis In J P B Allen and S P Corder (eds.)

Techniques in Applied Linguistics (The Edinburgh Course in Applied Linguistics: 3) London: Oxford University Press (Language and Language Learning), 122-154.

Dulay, H C., Burt, M.K., & Krashen, S.D (1982) Language two New York: Oxford University Press

James, C (1998) Errors in language learning and use: Exploring error analysis New York: Routledge.

Kanyakorn Sermsook, J.L (2017) An analysis of Error in Written English Sentences: A case Study of Thai ELF Students Retrieved from

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1130033.pdf.Kwok, H L (1998) Why and when do we correct learner errors? An error correction project for an English composition class Retrieved 16/04/2014, from: http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/45/4500101.pdf

Salebi, M.Y (2004) Saudi college students’ perception of their errors in written English Scientific Journal of King Faisal 5, , 209-228

Simbwa, E (1987) Investigating Writing Errors among University Students in Uganda International Journal of Applied Sciences 6, (2), 45-60.

Watcharapunyawong, S., & Usaha, S (2013) Thai EFL students’ writing

errors in different text types: Theinterference of the first language.English Language Teaching, 6(1), 67-78

Retrieved from : http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v6n1p67.Zheng, C., & Park, T (2013) An analysis of errors in English writing made

by Chinese and Korean universitystudents Theory and Practice in Language Studies 3, (8), 1342-1351.https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.3.8.1342-1351

Zawahreh, F (2012) Applied Error Analysis of Written Production of

English Essays of Tenth Grade Students in Ajloun Schools, Jordan International Journal of Learning and Development, 2(2), 16-3.

AppendixQuestionnaire

Dear students,We have a study with the aim of finding out the common mistake 2nd year students make in letter writing In order to be able to have different opinions on theresearch and to ensure the success of the study, we had a survey We look forward to your feedback and careful consideration

1 Do you think you have mastered the form of a letter?

7 What are the grammatical mistakes you often make when writing?

Grammatical error when using the article "the" Grammatical error when pluralizing nouns Grammatical error when using the article "A/An"

 Grammatical errors when writing abbreviations and tenses Error when using ","

Tenses Prepositions come after adjectives and nounsOther error:

……….8 Do you confuse writing formal and informal letters?

YesIs not• If yes, please give the reason for this confusion:

 Did not read the requirements carefully Indistinguishable

 Can distinguish but not many skillsOther reasons:

………

9 Please answer each of the following questions.

1 What is the biggest difficulty you feel when writing? ………

2 What grammar mistakes are you not sure about when writing your letter?………

3 What is the experience of choosing words when writing a letter? (informal/formal)

chọn từ chưachính xác)

Tense (Lỗi sai vềThì)Relative Clause(Sử dụng Mệnhđề quan hệ chưa

chính xác)

Preposition (Lỗisai khi sử dụng

giới từ)Organizeinformation and

ideas togetherBuild information

according to acertain layoutMissing, incorrect

or redundant useof linking wordsWrite the wrongnumber of wordsUse sample text